Tigra iPhone 5 bike mount

It’s Christmas eve, I’m back home with the family and it’s raining continuously, so I decided now would be a great time to get in to the great outdoors and do a quick video demonstration of the new Tigra iPhone 5 bike mount!

Can still charge your iPhone even when its inside the mount (great for keeping it running for even the most epic bike rides)

What’s to like

Using the Tigra iPhone 5 bike mount you can follow directions through Google Maps or BikeHub. You can use apps such as Strava to record your cycling and you can quickly send a text saying that you’ll be late, while you are stopped at a traffic light.

(The last one tends to be one I frequently find myself doing)

Beyond that there are a couple of features that are incredibly useful.

For a start, there’s the waterproofing. This is now certified to IPX4 standard. Essentially that means you can drop it in a bucket of water and your iPhone will be fine.

Despite the high level of waterproofing, you can use your iPhone on loudspeaker mode. Thanks to a sound boost design, on a quiet road you can hear directions. Obviously, on the busier roads it gets harder to hear your phone.

You can also potentially access the headphone port, although this may compromise the waterproofing.

The Tigra iPhone 5 bike mount also comes with a flip stand. You simply flip it open and your iPhone rests at a good angle so that you could read it on your desk or by your bed.

The most important feature of all, is how secure the mount feels. For a start, you get a sturdy mechanism that attaches to your handlebars. Then, you safely click your iPhone in to place. Finally, as an additional safety measure, there’s a small screw you can tighten.

The iPhone is then held inside the mount using two very strong arms that clip firmly in to position.

This provides a great peace of mind, knowing your iPhone is safe.

Finally, a newer edition of the Tigra iPhone 5 bike mount now allows to plug in the charging cable when the iPhone is inside the mount. This means you can take it on longer bike rides, without worrying that your iPhone battery will run out. All you would have to do is to trail the cable in to a saddle bag or frame bag and have a charger, such as the Veho Pebble, in there.

What’s not to like

Despite the thinner design, this is still a rather thick bike mount. As such, it doesn’t really make it suitable for carrying your iPhone around in your pocket.

Overall review

Overall, this is an impressive upgrade by Tigra. They’ve upped the ante on the waterproofing and the security, whilst keeping key features such as easily being able to see and use your iPhone while it’s inside the mount. This reflects on the slightly higher price point at £5 more than the iPhone 4 version. For this review, I’ll give the mount a 5 out of 5.

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From the pictures in your shop site, it originally looked like they’d left space in the silicon lining to plug the cable in. But I now see that there’s no way for the cable to enter the housing. Strange they’d offer a gap for headphones but not for charging, if they felt waterproofing was a key feature.

Access to the dock connector on the iPhone 3/4 model was key, for me, as it allowed plugging it into a bigger battery for longer rides. I never felt the need to drop the holder in a bucket of water, but I did need to charge it on 10+ hour rides (and it stayed dry in the rain.)

Anyone seen any other iPhone 5 bike mounts out there that do allow charging, yet?

I bought myself one for Christmas. Its been out for one ride. Secure fitting, note the case will turn through 360 deg on the mount, I think its safe to put the mount on either way round. Ths will allow you to have the case further forwards or backwards when mounted on the handlebars.

Mine came with a polycarbonate thin inner case, ok as minimalist protection if you take the iPhone out of the case but you don’t have to use it.

The small screw that locks the waterproof case into the mount seems the weakest element to me. I don’t think its optional to use it to lock the case into the mount. I would have preferred a click and lift or push lock like you get on CatEye lights etc.

Otherwise I am comfortable it will allow me to ride with iPhone in view on my handlebars. You might find it useful to: turn off the auto-lock, brightness on full and, turn off the apps and comms services you are not using.

I use a biologic case for the iPhone 4S that allows charging, and so far I’m really happy with it. The case is solid as a rock. They’ve just released one for th iPhone 5 but I’m not sure it allows charging.

Since my earlier post I found another option that’s still waterproof (the Quad Lock kit looks great, but offers less protection from the elements), but also allows charging whilst the phone is in the case. I’ve been using for most of this year, so far, and it’s been fine.

“Ultimate Addons Waterproof Tough Hard Mount Case for iPhone 5” (Googleable with that) has space for the Lightning charging connector and an access hole at the bottom. They have a selection of handlebar mounts, sold separately.

It has some disadvantages compared to the Tigra iPhone 4 case:
– the rubber ‘pin’ they provide in the cable hole has to be stored somewhere safe if you want to put a power cable through, though the headphone socket access pin remains attached when removed.

– the ‘mount’ clicks in and out, but there’s no release-lever mechanism. I’ve not had any mishaps so far, but I have been looping the lanyard around my handlebars just in case. But this is the same mount they use and target at motorbike customers so it’s just my lack of confidence I suspect.

– the ‘touch-through’ screen material isn’t as good. It’s smoother and clearer, but it seems to always “stick” to the phone screen where you touch it (it’s not moisture, I had some silica gel sat in the case to remove any.) If you use a screen-protector on the phone then you’re probably not going to notice this.

but it also has some things where it’s definitely better:
– no rubber band, around the unit. There’s two strong latches instead, most of the length of one side. (Note that the Tigra iPhone 5 case, above, does away with the band too)

– the mount mechanism means it’s less bulky when removed. It sits flat on a table.

– a selection of different mounts are available

– the Home button seems to work much better than on the Tigra iPhone 4 case.

I had one of these and the plastic mount failed when I was doing some considerable speed down hill (on road), which resulted in my iPhone 5 being deposited on the ground, being kicked by my foot as it went down.

Fortunately the phone survived unscathed – so the case itself is good. But they need to beef up the flimsy mount.

I’ve now bought a Garmin Edge 800, which while not being particularly good value for money is still cheaper than replacing an iPhone.